Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Bloomin’ Brands Put Options (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 70,192 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 5,275% compared to the average volume of 1,306 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLMN. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 606.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 4,198 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $111,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the 2nd quarter worth $169,000.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:BLMN opened at $12.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -110.72 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $13.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.13. Bloomin’ Brands has a 52 week low of $11.24 and a 52 week high of $30.13.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.02. Bloomin’ Brands had a positive return on equity of 62.18% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bloomin’ Brands will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -872.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BLMN. Bank of America reduced their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James cut shares of Bloomin’ Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “sell” rating and a $13.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Bloomin’ Brands Company Profile

Bloomin' Brands, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates casual, upscale casual, and fine dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, U.S. and International. Its restaurant portfolio has four concepts, including Outback Steakhouse, a casual steakhouse restaurant; Carrabba's Italian Grill, a casual Italian restaurant; Bonefish Grill; and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, a contemporary steakhouse.